Supreme365
Superstar
The 80’s scoring was comparable to today’s if not higher. The game was slow and sluggish pre 60’s and from the 90’s-early 00’s
why does larry bird have zero 40pt finals games?
- Thread starter SpursFanSinceNovember2017
- Start date
The 80’s scoring was comparable to today’s if not higher. The game was slow and sluggish pre 60’s and from the 90’s-early 00’s
So Bird's only really spectacular Finals win was when he had one of the best teams on paper ever and didn't have to do that much.
In every other season of his career, he either lost or looked really underwhelming in the win.
Hmmm....
Even crazier when you see Bird shot 32% from 3pt in the playoffs for his career. Some of his series performances from 3pt include 1-6, 1-5, 1-4, 1-7, 5-16, 3-14, 2-7, 5-19, 1-14, and 0-5. Not really stand-up series for a guy who is frequently lauded as one of the all-time great shooters. For some reason Bird stans always real, real quiet about that.
Bird almost certainly has the worst career playoff 3pt% of any "great shooter" in history.
Crazy this got 5 daps. Bird's teams scored MORE than the average team today. The pace in the NBA every single year from 1980 to 1989 was higher than 2021.
The 1980 Celtics, for example, averaged 114ppg and were still just 5th in the league. He supposedly carried that team, yet only had to score 18% of their points.
Magic lost less because the Western conference was MUCH weaker than the East at the time. You knocked Bird for playing 40 win Rockets teams... when those same 40 win Rockets teams beat the Lakers to get there...
The 1986 Rockets beat the Lakers to get the finals... and probably would have won more if it weren't for Ralph Sampson's career altering back injury and the Rocket's drug abuse that gutted a lot of their young roster.
The Greatest Team That Never Was
You know how LeBron made 8 straight finals in the East? And we add the caveat that the East was really bad in most of those years?
Well that's how it was in Magic's west in the 80s. The one team that could have given him a legit challenge only lasted 2 years.
At least Bird had to play 1 decent or good team in the 76ers and Pistons on the way.
Bird's all around game was all-around. His assists numbers weren't super high but he often set up the offense. He's not without flaws, his scoring performances as you noted weren't great.
I don't get it. Him not having a 40 point Finals game means he's not great?
mastermind
Rest In Power Kobe
Those are nice numbers an all but...
i don't think arguing that Larry Bird is a bad shooter will work with any old head or any sports figures. Might work on an online forum though. but if you bump into pro ball player in barbershop and try to say this ya'll probably be treated like a casual breh. People weren't looking at stat sheets back then, and weren't driven by analytics. Players these days will stop shooting when they are having an off night in order to preserve their percentages at the expense of winning. Can't really say a great shooter from that era was bad just because his percentage doesn't compare to modern standards
No, I think 40 points is an arbitrary cutoff. Bird is one of the greats but had extremely underwhelming playoff performances, and you can see that clearly without having to use an arbitrary cutoff.
That argument doesn't make any sense. I didn't say Bird was a bad shooter but he definitely underperformed in the playoffs. How does saying, "But old heads glorify their heroes regardless of how they actually performed!" prove anything?Those are nice numbers an all but...
Facts are facts. If you can't argue with facts then why the fukk should I take your opinion seriously?
You do realize the west champ plays the east champ for the title, right?
Straw Hat Luffy
Superstar
Are all these long ass arguments just over bird not scoring 40 in the finals? 
you posted his playoff stats in response to me saying he was a great shooter, if you don't disagree why did you disagree?
nikka this is PG as a young rookie, I showed you PG after he grew....nikka stop tryna make larry bird to be 6'9....He's 6'11 at the LEAST
The East was a bloodbath in both the regular season and postseason unlike the run and gun inflated West of that era, he often went through a gauntlet before reaching the finals team which was usually against one of the few West teams with a respectable defense (the 86 Rockets didn't rank highly in defense but they did have Hakeem). Plus the Celtics were an equal opportunity kind of offense, Bird did a lot of his scoring off ball and rarely needed to hold the ball long in order to make a decision
A lot of teams in the 80s really didn't give a fukk about defense like that but the teams Bird faced (they used to face conference opponents way more back then) especially in the playoffs were the usual exceptions to that rule whose success wound up birthing the defensive oriented mindset of later periods before rule changes and other factors allowed the pace and space era to take hold. He would definitely have had a few 40 point games in today's environment
A lot of teams in the 80s really didn't give a fukk about defense like that but the teams Bird faced (they used to face conference opponents way more back then) especially in the playoffs were the usual exceptions to that rule whose success wound up birthing the defensive oriented mindset of later periods before rule changes and other factors allowed the pace and space era to take hold. He would definitely have had a few 40 point games in today's environment
nah, son stop putting too much on it, he is 6'10.5" at the MOSTnikka this is PG as a young rookie, I showed you PG after he grew....nikka stop tryna make larry bird to be 6'9....He's 6'11 at the LEAST
I didn't disagree, I used your claim to emphasize my point. My point is that Larry Bird consistently failed to step up in the playoffs. If he's a "great shooter", as we both agree, yet he only shot 32% from 3pt in the playoffs for his career, doesn't that help demonstrate my point?
Erratic415
Superstar
Having no 40 point performances is no big deal, but Bird did have some shooting struggles in the postseasons/finals. It’s not uncommon since defenses tend to be tougher in the playoffs.
Still, a star player would get killed with criticism today if he got into a bar fight during the playoffs, hurt his hand, his shooting percentages go down, and then his team lost in the finals.
The West was definitely the weaker conference in the 80s.
Olajuwon absolutely killed them in the 86’ WCF. Sampson is the one who made the crazy game winner to advance to the finals after Olajuwon got ejected, but Akeem was unstoppable in that series.
Teams wanted their own Twin Towers duo around that time. Magic Johnson actually wanted Lakers management to trade James Worthy, and I think Byron Scott, to Dallas for Roy Tarpley and his friend Mark Aguirre. Jerry West veto’d it.
History could have gone a lot different if that trade had gone through.
Still, a star player would get killed with criticism today if he got into a bar fight during the playoffs, hurt his hand, his shooting percentages go down, and then his team lost in the finals.
The West was definitely the weaker conference in the 80s.
Olajuwon absolutely killed them in the 86’ WCF. Sampson is the one who made the crazy game winner to advance to the finals after Olajuwon got ejected, but Akeem was unstoppable in that series.
Teams wanted their own Twin Towers duo around that time. Magic Johnson actually wanted Lakers management to trade James Worthy, and I think Byron Scott, to Dallas for Roy Tarpley and his friend Mark Aguirre. Jerry West veto’d it.
History could have gone a lot different if that trade had gone through.
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Not really, you're only using the 3pt stat? A shot he didn't take that much?
And competition in the Playoffs will be tougher than average games.
Steph numbers drop as well.
Regular season vs Playoffs FG% 47.7% - 45%, 3pt FG% 43.3% - 40.1%
Playoff FG%
Steph Curry - 45%
Larry Bird - 47.2%
Larry Bird Stats | Basketball-Reference.com
Stephen Curry Stats | Basketball-Reference.com